SAPTAMATRKA

(Sanskrit: Seven Divine Mothers), in Hinduism, a group of seven mother-goddesses, each of whom is the sakti, or female counterpart, of a god. They are Brahmani, Mahesvari, Kaumari, Vaisnavi, Varahi, Indrani, and Camunda, or Yami. (One text, the Varaha-Purana, states that they number eight, including Yogesvari, created out of the flame from Siva's mouth.) Representations of the goddesses are found in shrines throughout India, frequently flanked by Virabhadra (a ferocious form of Lord Siva) on the left and the elephant-headed Ganesa on the right. The individual mothers can be identified by their weapons, ornaments, vahanas (mounts), and banner emblems, which are in each case the same as that of their corresponding male deities. Any Saptamatrka cult that may have existed seems to have disappeared by the 11th century, perhaps, some scholars suggest, absorbed by the growing worship of Sakti (the supreme being personified as female).